Danny Phantom: Chaos Breeds
by HolyGrail2007
Summary: When a powerful group of foes comes to Amity Park, how can Danny handle something he can barely defeat. Rated for later strong violence, blood, language, and minor suggestive themes.
1. Beginnings

_Summary: There is something coming to Amity Park. A group of powerful ghosts known only as the Harbringers, a group of ghosts so malicious and powerful that no other ghost dares to cross their path, are coming. With Danny hopelessly outnumbered and not strong enough to fight them all, he must rely upon whatever powers he can find and use to win. Even if it costs him everything. Rated for language and suggestive content. _

Danny had always hated mornings. Crawling out of bed was perhaps the hardest thing to do on a school day, but today seemed harder then ever. Maybe it was just the slight headache, maybe it was the foul concoction of food that he had eaten yesterday. Maybe it was both, the trouble wasn't ghost-related, one of the few nights Danny wasn't up late combating the dangers of ghosts. Who knew? But Danny dragged himself out of bed and changed quickly. Unlike his elder sister Jazz, he didn't need to spend much time getting ready. He could fix his hair with a few passes of his hand, a few passes of deodorant, and a quick teeth brush. Ready in five minutes.

Danny sat down at the table. His parents always made huge breakfasts, since they could stay home and eat at their leisure. But he and his sister were on a time budget. He grabbed the quickest thing he could eat, toast and orange juice. Jazz was already ready to go, slipping her car keys into her purse. How could she always be ready in the mornings like that? But that was Jasmine Fenton, perfect in almost every way. Straight A's, popular, the works. And somehow, that gave her the right to be pushy and practically force her younger brother to do better in school. But she didn't have to juggle two lives, she didn't have his problems. And the fact that she talked like she understood everything annoyed him to no end. Sure, she was smart, but all the smarts in the world couldn't prepare her to understand that.

"Danny, are you coming, or do you want to wait for the bus?" She asked, smiling. Danny cocked a sly smile. Waiting for the bus to him actually meant going ghost and flying. Since he was going to Casper High, though, he never really enjoyed the flight, although flight was so common to him now that it didn't really amaze him. Unless he flew with someone. Sam enjoyed a flight every so often. Danny desperately wanted to find a good time to ask Paulina if she wanted to try it. She was obviously not scared of his ghost self, but would she be okay with flying. Of course, any time he spent in his ghost form with Paulina always seemed to make Sam upset. There was no way she could be jealous, though; Sam was not that petty. At least, Danny didn't think she was.

"Alright, I'm coming, hold your horses." He complained. She had always been acting strangely ever since Spectra had attacked. Jazz handled herself like a master. Unafraid and strong, she charged forward and beat Spectra when he could not. She was capable, and she was unafraid, but that didn't mean she could accept Danny as a ghost. After all, she was the one protesting for years about the embarrassment of parents in the ghost-related field. Not that Jack and Maddie Fenton weren't embarrassing, but Jazz, despite her other qualities, was quite intolerant when it came to ghosts.

The car ride to school with Jazz was nice; because it was one of the few times Danny could feel normal. Perhaps it was just coincidence, but no ghost had dared interrupt the sanctuary of the morning car ride. Danny tried to study during the trip, it was one of the few times he could. He had to build up his grades. Although he himself could care less, he wanted to spare himself the tongue lashing from his parents and sister. Jazz turned on a little rock music as she took the only left turn the journey had.

"You've been having a lot of late nights, Danny. What're you doing out so late?" She asked. The old standby, Danny inwardly groaned. She always asked questions like this, which is why the car ride was never perfect. Deflecting questions was almost second fiddle to him now, though. He'd been deflecting them for nine months now after the accident that made him who he was.

"What do people normally do late at night?" He defended

"Smoke pot under the bleachers." Jazz retorted. "Danny, what's going on? You can tell me anything, you know." That phrase had become Jazz's mantra ever since Spectra.

"It's nothing, really. I go hang out at Sam's or Tuck's sometime, and just lose track. Hey, you think we can practice driving later?" He asked. Not that Danny ever needed to drive since he could fly anywhere, but it was a good way to throw Jazz off track. Danny knew better then to ask his parents for lessons after his father insisted he practice in the Fenton RV. That was an hour Danny would have rather forgotten.

"Uhh…sure." She smiled. Danny was positive Jazz knew he wasn't a pothead or anything like that. But now, they would drive in silence. They were mad at each other: Jazz upset that he wouldn't tell her anything, and Danny mad she wouldn't back off. It never lasted longer then the car trip, which was just about over. But it was still frustrating. She never gave him credit.

* * *

After dropping Danny off at the door, Jazz moved to park. Again, he blocked her questions. It didn't shock her, but she wanted to be wrong this time. She wanted to be shocked. She wanted Danny to tell her everything. Even if it was just to help cover up the curfew tardiness to the parents, it would be telling her the truth. Why couldn't he understand that she would understand? It just took one step, just one, and he'd know just how much she cared and believed in him. She was one of the few people who believed in him after he became Public Enemy Number One. But he wouldn't, and she couldn't force him like she could force him to study.

After parking, she made it to her locker, where she caught a brief glimpse of Danny. He was chatting it up and laughing with Samantha Mason and Tucker Foley, those two friends of his, as they walked off to the classroom of Mr. Lancer.

"And he can be himself among them, because they know. What do they have I don't?" Jazz wondered to herself. "What could Danny be so afraid of that he can't confide in me? Do I have to fight ghosts non-stop to prove myself?" Jazz ducked into the women's room. The whole place was empty, so Jazz leaned against the door.

"I'd do anything to prove myself, Danny, just give me a chance. I know you think I can't understand, but I do." She sunk to the floor. Danny couldn't see how much she wanted to know, she could not guilt him into telling her.

* * *

"Hey, Danny!" A voice called from behind.

"Oh, hey Val." Danny smiled to the dark-skinned lady coming up from behind him.

"Tucker, Sam." She greeted them with less enthusiasm, and the two responded in turn.

"Any new activity?" Danny asked. It wasn't a secret to him that Valerie was a ghost slayer. She had told him after the fight with the Ghost King that she had rescued him and Vlad. She told him that she fought ghosts after Danny Phantom had ruined her life, and that she was being helped by Vlad, who helped her because she was motivated. So she fought ghosts, and did quite well. Of course, Danny knew all of this, but he faked surprise. What was unusual was Valerie asked if that was weird. He didn't think his opinion mattered at all to Valerie. But he told her it was cool, and in fact, she looked awesome in that red costume. That made her smile.

"No, things have been quiet. It's weird; things have never been this quiet. Even that ghost-boy hasn't shown up much." It was weird to hear him referred to in the third person like that. It was funny, actually, but Danny wisely kept his mouth shut.

"Eh, it's probably just a lull. Maybe ghosts have holidays." Danny cracked a cheery smile and Val chuckled. Sam and Tucker, upset at being ignored, left them to stop at the water fountain.

"Just give it time." Danny said. "They can be overprotective far too much. They think you're flaky, like Star." If Sam were there, Danny would have said Paulina to make her happy, but now that she wasn't, Danny wouldn't insult her, even though he knew she was.

"You should watch out for that crowd. They'll use you like a tissue and throw you out." She warned. "Why don't we catch each other later at the Nasty Burger after school? I don't work today."

"I'd love to. I've got to practice driving after school, but I can probably swing by there."

"Driving practice? Not with your wacky parents, I hope."

"No, Jazz."

"Oh, good. It must be nice to have an older sister."

"It's got its disadvantages." Danny was quick to say.

"But it's got its perks." Val replied. Danny silently acknowledged that she was right. It did, especially with parents like he had. But he couldn't admit that. He couldn't admit to anyone that Jazz was more then a bratty sister. Families were always like that.

* * *

The Ghost Zone was certainly not a place of buzzing activity. If anything, it was quieter then ever. They knew better then to cause undue noise now, and all of them knew better then to go near Earth now. For there was something coming, a dark presence passing through to reach the human world. Anyone who looked only saw figures draped all in black. Red eyes peered through hoods with such a menacing glare it would cause even ghosts to become frozen with fear and cold. Ember watched from her domain silently. They were not interested in her, or any of the ghosts nearby, unless they got in the way. Any ghost that got in the way was brutally and painfully eliminated.

She didn't need anyone to tell her what was going on. She knew, everyone knew, what was about to happen. As the figures passed, the ghosts knew that another town of people would be in the Ghost Zone as residents soon enough, and made sure to mark their territory. After the beings had departed and territory marked, several of the ghosts gathered nearby where they had passed. Wordlessly, they exchanged glances, which said more then enough. The direction they went was towards the human world, or Amity Park, specifically. Ember sighed when she thought the teens would no longer be around to idolize her, Walker grimaced at the thought that the ghost boy wouldn't be in his prison.

"I am quite confused." Technus, easily the youngest of all the ghosts, stated. "Who were those?"

Desiree, as one of the oldest, simply turned to him.

"Harbringers." She simply said, uttering the word with both reverence and fear. "The Harbringers are going to the ghost boy. Even I wouldn't wish that upon him." The ghosts mumbled amongst themselves. The world would soon be in utter chaos.


	2. Foes and Make Outs

With the third day in a row without ghost activity, Danny was getting a little bored, although apprehensive was probably closer to the truth. That meant they were doing something else, something else that Danny didn't know, and that worried him.

"_Shit_." Danny wondered to himself. No ghosts must have meant they were all in on something. Were they planning on a coordinated attack?

He shrugged, it was best not to worry about it, he rationalized. That would only make him tired. He would deal with it when he got there. He always did. He figured he might as well enjoy the reprieve and go meet Valerie at the Nasty Burger. Despite Sam and Tucker's protests, Danny decided it was his duty to befriend Valerie. Sooner or later, she'd find out about his ghost self, and when she did, she would be able to think that he was trying to make it up to her, and thatthe ghost boywasn't all bad.

She was sitting at one of the tables. When she caught notice of him, she smiled and waved him over.

"What took ya?" She asked.

"Parallel parking." Danny responded.

"That gets everyone." Valerie responded. They made idle conversation after getting a few Nasty Burgers. And Danny caught Valerie smiling. She didn't smile that often. Ghost hunting was probably tough on her, and the battle with the Ghost King had shaken her confidence a little. She wasn't able to beat Pariah Dark, and that was horrible for her. But Danny didn't want to prod her about that. If she wanted to confide in him her doubts, she would choose it herself. But she was smiling and that made Danny feel better, what he was doing was actually working.

"I gotta hit the bathroom, hold on a second." Valerie excused herself, and Danny leaned back in the booth, confident in himself.

"_And I'm much better then Spectra_." He laughed at the irony of it. But when he opened his mouth to finish off his burger, a pale blue wisp escaped from his mouth.

"_Oh great, so much for a vacation_." He grumbled to himself. He wasn't sure how long Valerie would take in the bathroom, so he had to find out where the nearby ghost was coming from. He looked around: the Nasty Burger was nearly deserted, which was odd for this time of day. However, just as it seemed devoid of people, it was devoid of ghosts. That must have meant it was coming from outside.

Danny ducked behind the condiment counter to go ghost, making sure Valerie was no where in sight. Two rings from his waist spread out, and once they subsided, a dark black full bodysuit with a white belt and white emblem on the chest replaced his common T-shirt and jeans.

"_Now, where is today's culprit_?" He wondered as he turned intangible and went through the glass. Once he phased back outside the Nasty Burger, though, his response was quickly answered in the form of an energy blast sending Danny straight to the ground.

That blast hurt, it hurt a lot. Quickly, Danny got back to his feet to look for the culprit. He was easy enough to find, standing right near the entrance to the Nasty Burger parking lot. A tall, hooded figure, all in black, with red glowing eyes.

"Halloween's a long time away from May, dipshit." Danny taunted.

"Ghost child." The voice spoke, in a low, raspy voice, a voice that made the hairs of Danny's neck stand on end.

"Ghost child, hybrid." The voice spoke again. "You will be eliminated."

"You've got to try a little harder then that to scare me." Danny responded by shooting it with a blast from his hands. But the figure simply rose up a hand and took the blast, without even flinching.

"_Okay_." Danny thought to himself. "Maybe I need to go for it a little differently." Danny jumped up and flew straight at the ghost, intending to charge him at full speed with a right hook. The ghost was motionless until Danny came up to it, then it quickly Grabbed him by the arm and roughly threw him backward into a set of outdoor tables.

"Oh yeah, well let's see how you handle…" Danny started, attempting to duplicate himself. He had never done it without the ecto-suit before, but he had to do it. A confusion tactic worked when normal stuff failed.

But before he could do it, he felt something blast him right in the back.

"Valerie!" Danny instantly panicked, assumed the worst,and turned towards the shooter, but it wasn't her. Instead, it was another robed figure.

"Damn!" Danny shouted, but he was quickly attacked by the first one with another ectoplasmic beam.

"_Which one do I fight_?" Danny wondered, but then the second one blasted him to the ground.

"What a foolish child, to think he could beat the Harbringers with mere powers like his?" The first, raspy sounding ghost ignored the fallen ghost and went up to his partner, floating just above the Nasty Burger.

"How indeed." The second, which was female, returned. "But still, I could see how you barely were able to hold back his attacks." She spoke with no sarcasm or mocking tone in her voice, not even a lick. She was not pointing it out to insult him, but rather, as fact.

"Yes indeed." The first returned. Danny struggled to stand back up. His arms were quaking and felt like heavy bricks, and he could feel the blood oozing down his back. But he ignored it as best he could and stood himself He cocked his neck forward to see they were still talking to each other.

"_Now's my chance_." He thought, moving his arm forward to blast them. He fired, but immediately dropped down to his knees a second after. The blast managed to hit the woman, and caused her to stagger, or at least the floating equivalent of a stagger.

"So…" She turned to him. "You have no chance of winning, ghost boy. Trying further is pointless and will only make it more painful for you. You have been marked for death. And we, the Harbringers, are the executor of that sentence. Resign yourself to death, boy, for the next time we meet, you will not be allowed to live." And the two ghosts faded into smoke and disappeared.

"_What…the hell_?" Danny wondered, transforming back into his human self. He did not feel well at all. Back in his normal form, he could see the cuts on his arm, although he could feel pain everywhere else.

"Danny…Danny!" He thought he heard Sam's voice, but his head was swimming and reeling, he thought he was imaging it. He tried to stand up and look for the voice, hoping Sam was with Tucker. One of them could stall Valerie while the other went with Danny to make the lie Valerie was to be told more believable.

But Danny could barely move towards the voice. Danny could barely rock back and forth before he collapsed.

* * *

"Danny!" Valerie screamed as she dashed towards him and caught him as he fell. Danny had disappeared from histable after she had left the bathroom, but she saw him outsidethrough the window.What on earth happened to him? It looked like he was mauled by a damn bear. But Valerie was positive there was a ghost involved. There weren't any bears in Amity Park. Dash and the stupid popular jocks wouldn't do something like this: they did things with their fists, and these were cuts and burns. It had to be a ghost because Danny was hanging out with her, and ghosts would go after people close to a ghost slayer to distract them. 

"You'll pay for this, you fucking ghosts!" Valerie said out loud softly. She briefly considered calling someone, but stopped when she realized there wasn't anyone who could help her. Shecouldn't call her dad since he was at Axion, and calling Danny's parents would only result in a conversation far too awkward that she wouldn't know any answers too. She couldn't reach Danny's two geek friends, so she had to handle things herself, with her jet sled. Quickly changing into her red ghost-hunter costume, she cradled Danny in her arms. Although unconscious and a bit sticky from blood, he was rather light.

"_Maybe you should work out a little more_." She smiled inwardly. Taking to the sky, she took her ride slower then normal. Danny's condition was definitely not critical and not even that serious, but he was unconscious. Her place was far too small to take Danny, her father would immediately suspect something was up when he saw blood everywhere. So she had to take him to his place; it was closer anyway.

She heard Danny mumble and groan as he came to.

"Ah!" He screamed, obviously unsure of his surroundings.

"Relax, it's just me, Val." She calmed him.

"Oh, ah, right, err…what happened?" He asked, still groggy.

"I was hoping you could tell me, but first let's get you taken care of." Valerie smiled. Danny smiled too, but then his eyes widened in fear.

"Val, behind you!" He told her. He must have been trying to shout, but his throat was parched. Valerie turned her head around, but Danny's warning came too late. Some ghost, a jackass in a black robe with a hood, fired at her, clipping her in the shoulder. Val howled silently to herself. She couldn't show Danny or that ghost how much that shot hurt. Valerie reached into her boot for one of the ecto-guns, the light sidearm Valerie could easily wield in her off-hand, lay. But the ghost dashed off before she could aim.

"_What on earth_?" Valerie thought to herself. She could deal with that problem later, right now she needed to get Danny someplace out of the way. Luckily, the FentonWorks building was coming up. The ghost-slayer slowed down and went through the open window to Danny's bedroom.

"Thanks." Danny smiled as Valerie put him down gently. "Why don't you lie down on the bed?" He offered.

"You lay down." She commanded as she clicked her heels and her suit disappeared. "You've taken much more of a beating then I have." Valerie paused for a second to look at her left shoulder, where that ghost had hit her. They could have aimed for her head or back and would have hit her squarely in something vital, but they went for her shoulder, as if they were aiming for Danny, but her shoulder was in the way. Or maybe they weren't after a kill, just an injury. Pity for them if they did, Valerie Gray would fight with any injury. That ghost wasn't going to get away. But she had to for now: Valerie did not see the Fenton's large RV outside, which meant his parents probably were not there. His sister Jazz might have been, but she didn't want to chance it.

Danny had suffered attacks similar to hers, although it appeared as though he was picked up and thrown due to some jagged scrapes on his arms, chest, and back.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked. She had taken one attack and it hurt, but he had taken several. He smiled and nodded. Danny Fenton may not have been a ghost-hunter like her. He wasn't strong, he wasn't popular, and his fashion taste was questionable, but he was certainly tough.

"Let's get that cleaned up, where do you have a first-aid kit or something."

"Bathroom. First door before the stairs." Danny responded. Val exited and quickly returned with it. She started disinfecting his face, grunting a little as she used her left arm to hold Danny's face still.

"I'm fine." Danny insisted. "Let me get yours; that looks like it really hurts."

"It's fine." Valerie protested. "It's nothing, really. It'll be all right."

"But let me get it." Danny grabbed a gauze pad from the kit and soaked it in the rubbing alcohol. Valerie relented, and pulled the collar of her shirt down to expose it. She winced as Danny treated it. He was careful not to burst the blisters; he may not have been the bright one of the family, but he did know the answers when they learned about burns a week ago in health class. Val smiled, but Danny blushed.

"Okay, now let's get back to you." She insisted.

"Uh, I think I can…handle myself." Danny protested a little.

"Danny, you can't reach all of what happened to you. What did happen anyway?" She asked, taking command once again.

"Well, I went outside for some air." Danny started. "But then I saw that ghost boy."

"The ghost kid did this to you?" Valerie's eyes narrowe as she interrupted.

"No, no, let me finish!" Danny protested. "That ghost boy wasn't doing much of anything; he just seemed to be, uh, flying around. But then these weird hooded guys came up, just like the one you saw. There were two of them, and they just attacked me."

Valerie was slightly disappointed it wasn't the ghost kid, although she didn't need another reason to go after him.

"It looked like they had their fun on you." Valerie responded. "Take off your shirt." She instructed.

"What?"

"You can't look behind you, but I can see how they had their fun with you. I have to take care of it, so take it off." Danny sighed, but obliged.

"Ouch! That stuff really stings." He protested as Valerie took care of a rather nasty laceration on his back. That what made him so sticky, she imagined.

"Don't be such a wuss." She responded. Guys were always like that. Acted tough yet were crybabies for a little pain.

"Okay, we did what we could. You look better already." Val smiled at Danny, who smiled back, yet blushed. He was really awkward around girls. But Valerie found that charming.

"I'm…ah…I'm going to put some…uh…cold water on this…uh…burn." Valerie responded.

"Okay." Danny responded, laying down on the bed. She went to the bathroom and pulled off her shirt, turning the tub on since the sink wouldn't have allowed enough room for her to stick her entire shoulder in. As she felt the water rush over her, stinging but at the same time, making her feel better, she couldn't help but realize how awkward she was as she left.

"Maybe it's just contagious." She mused. She grabbed her shirt and some paper towels to dry her shoulder off, and went back into Danny's room to check on him.

Danny was lying in bed, although he looked less pale. He smiled when he saw her.

"Hey." Valerie said, as she leaned up close to him on the bed. Danny blushed at her closeness.

"Uhh…" He seemed unsure of what to say. Valerie knew she was only wearing her bra on her upper body, but it didn't bother her any.

"You feelin' better."

"Uhh…" He really was awkward around girls. And Val couldn't help but be attracted to that innocent charm. It was his passiveness that was attractive. She had stunned him earlier. Now it was time to move in for the kill.

* * *

When Sam saw Val speed away from the Nasty Burger carrying Danny, instinct immediately kicked in as she trailed them. She doubted the ghost hunter saw anything, but why she'd carry Danny off would be anyone's guess. She went in the direction of Danny's house, but it took Sam forever to follow since she had to follow on foot.

The front door of the Fenton house was unlocked, so Valerie probably used Danny's key, or Jazz was home. Whichever it was, that was not as important as finding Danny and making sure he was safe. She didn't hear anything in the house other then some music from Jazz's room. But Danny wouldn't be in Jazz's room, she had to go check his room.

The door was partially open, so Sam didn't bother knocking, as if she ever needed to knock on Danny's door anyway. Danny wouldn't be doing anything strange, and certainly not with his door unlocked and sort of open.

But she was wrong.

Danny and Valerie, just like Sam thought, were there. Both of them looked fine. Injured, but fine. What shocked her was what they were doing. Valerie, wearing only her bra and skirt, was pretty much on top of Danny, who was shirtless, making out like there was no tomorrow.


	3. The Kiss of Three Women

Jazz always had a thing for rock music, rock music of all kinds. Perhaps it's because she distanced herself from her family with it, since none of them liked the hard guitar or the lyrics. It was almost a reprieve from them. Also, it stimulated her, made her write better. And she needed to write tonight: She had essays due on _The Canterbury Tales _and _Wuthering Heights_, and Jasmine Fenton wanted them ready and prepared. She would never be caught dead banging out a paper at the last minute.

She heard the door open and someone coming up the stairs, but she was positive it was just Danny. He always came home late. Ghost-fighting was almost always the culprit. She sighed; Danny's life wouldn't get any easier as long as he kept hiding his secret, but he insisted on sacrificing his grades and probably a good portion of his sanity so that he could continue to fight them alone.

"To protect us." Jazz rationalized. She understood Danny better then probably anyone, or at least, she understood him the best before the accident. It baffled Jazz a little: Not telling enemies was one thing, so they wouldn't go after family, but what could be the harm in telling her? She wouldn't dash for the nearest Fenton-stickered item and blast it at him, and she was positive Danny knew that. He must have wanted to distance himself from them so they wouldn't be the targets.

"_Maybe I could talk to him a little. I could use a break from this if it means helping him out_." Jazz reasoned to herself. She opened her door. Danny was indeed out there, but he was chasing Sam down the steps.

"Nothing happened!" He protested, shouting after her. He was carrying his shirt in his hands and attempting to put it on as he walked. Jazz noted that he was covered in bandages, fresh ones, which were slightly bloody.

"_What on earth…Danny couldn't be that irresponsible to go too far with Sam, could he? And what's with those injuries, was he attacked?"_ Jazz wondered. She looked into Danny's room to see another girl, the pretty dark-skinned girl. Valerie. Jazz had never met her before, but she had seen her before, and knew her name, and although Valerie didn't say it, but Jazz suspected she liked Danny. Her father, Damon Gray, worked at Axion, and helped her parents protect the town.

"Uhh…hi, Jazz Fenton." Jazz introduced herself calmly. Valerie was dressed, although by her recently treated injury lead Jazz to believe Danny was helping her with that.

"Valerie Gray. You're Danny's big sister, aren't you?"

"Yeah. What's going on there? You alright?"

"Fine." Valerie's eyes shifted as the rest of her twitched awkwardly. "Things just…things…uh…were a little weird. I'm gonna…I'm gonna get going. Just tell Danny I left, and I said thanks."

"Uh, alright." Jazz responded, wrinkling her brow in frustration. Jazz exited Danny's room to hear the sound of an engine. She opened the door again to find Valerie gone.

"_Couldn't be a ghost, Danny would know that. Must be some invention of Dad's he gave her." _Jazz quickly went downstairs to see if Sam and Danny were okay, but she was more worried about Danny. Sam had a bite equivalent of a pitbull and was easily ten times as fierce.

She heard them shouting from downstairs.

"Were you even considering the consequences!" Sam shouted.

"N…no, I wasn't, but nothing happened! It was just…"

"Just what, hormones? You were enjoying every second of it, I could see it!"

"You were looking at my…" Danny trailed a little. "Sam, just calm down, please. I can tell you everything if you just…" But Sam stormed out, and Jazz finally got to see her. Her face was flushed with anger, but at the same time, she seemed upset and betrayed. But she composed herself briefly when she noticed there was a third party.

"Excuse me, Jazz, I was just leaving." She said with a calm that was quite eerie considering her usual rage. Jazz let her by, there was no sense letting the angry bulldog bite her too. Sam grabbed the front door and slammed it, causing one of the pictures on the shelf, one of the few good family portraits the family had, to fall and shatter. Jazz picked it up as she went into the kitchen, where Danny and Sam had previously been arguing. Danny, looking just as pissed off and upset as Sam was, grabbed a can of soda out of the fridge and slammed it on the table.

"Danny?" Jazz knew how to approach upset people, and she knew how to approach Danny. If she barked or yelled, it made it worse.

"What?" He snapped, his eyes angry.

"Feeling okay? You've got lots of bandages on your arms." She picked her words carefully.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He took an angry swig of soda.

"What happened?" Jazz asked. If she could get Danny's concentration away from Sam, maybe he'd meander into it later.

"Nothing, just that jackass Dash Baxter." Danny responded. Jazz knew that was a lie, but she expected the lies.

"You look really beat up. Let me see it." Jazz offered, but Danny knocked her hands away.

"It's fine, Valerie took care of it…oh no, I left Valerie upstairs." Danny stood up.

"She left already." Jazz responded, which calmed him down. "She got hit too."

"Yeah, she was attacked by a…wild dog. Just after we left the Nasty Burger. So I took her here and cleaned her up." Danny had rehearsed that in his mind, it seemed.

"Were you with Sam?"

"No. She just showed up." Danny said. "Right at the wrong time. If she'd only sit down and thing like…Why do you care anyway?" He challenged.

"Because I'm your sister. That's what I do."

"Well, you can't help, I can handle this."

"Danny, Sam's might be spirited and not like most other girls, but she's still a girl. What do you know about women?" Jazz responded with a challenge. Danny had to see how plainly he didn't know the answer before he'd let Jazz help him.

"Well…uhhh…it's Sam, I've known her for years."

"You've known Sam for years, but right now, she's jealous and upset. How good are you at talking to a jealous woman?"

"Err…" Danny paused, and Jazz saw her opportunity. "Any advice?" He cheered up, and his face lightened considerably.

"Well, I'd need to know what happened first. Was it something major?"

"I was kissing Valerie." Danny responded. Jazz didn't blink. She was going to be a psychiatrist, she trained for these things. Lawyers were trained to smile during a heart attack, psychiatrists to keep a straight face.

"Kissing her? And Sam walked in." Danny nodde in agreement.

"What's her problem anyway? It's not like we're dating or anything. I wouldn't mind if she made out with, um, Tucker, or somebody." Danny defended, although Jazz suspected he was lying again.

"I'm sure she was just worried you were rushing into things. Think about it like this. You were headed for second base without telling her you were planning on it, and she felt betrayed that you wouldn't tell her." Jazz responded, laying it out as factual as she could.

"I…I wasn't planning on it, it just happened. Valerie was real pushy and she was cleaning me up from the ghos…err, from Dash's attack, and one thing led to another." Danny managed to catch himself well.

"Well, just give Sam a little time to cool off, but in the meantime, don't hang around Valerie with Sam. Spend more time with her." Jazz offered.

"Thanks." Danny smiled, one of his genuine smiles, not his painted fake ones that he might as well have patented. Jazz could tell because his eyes sparkled when he really smiled. "I feel a lot better now."

"No problem. Just remember, you can always tell me anything. No matter what, I'm always on your side." Jazz gave her brother a little cheek peck before she went back upstairs to write more about Edgar and Isabella Linton.

"_I mean that, Danny. Anything. I'll catch you if you fall, and when your powers become too much, just look inside and remember that your sister is always on your side."

* * *

_

Danny wouldn't admit it out loud, but he wouldn't trade Jazz for anything. If there was somebody new he'd tell about his powers, it would be her. At the very least, she would keep a straight face as she did it.

Although Danny wanted to go over Sam's right away, he couldn't. He was far too tired and exhausted. Tomorrow, he could talk to Sam, and maybe she could find something out about these new ghosts. But, thanks to Jazz, Danny felt as though he could sleep tonight, rather then lie awake wondering about. Provided there was no more ghost interference. Danny's homework load had been considerably light, which probably meant he was about to be swarmed with tests, so he decided to relax by taking a shower. As he felt the water rush over him, he pondered his new enemies for a second. They worked together, and that was going to be difficult. One alone was near impossible, how was he supposed to handle any more then that? Harbringers, they called themselves. Certainly an ominous name. And they were after him, him and him alone. Otherwise, they would have taken out Valerie when they had the clean shot. He'd have to ask Tucker about it. But the good thing was that they wouldn't go after anyone else. It would be okay for Sam and Tucker to work with him. Not Valerie, though, Danny insisted to himself. She wouldn't work with his ghost self unless he had a convincing reason, and she'd probably blast him in the back when the Harbringers were gone.

"_Thinking of Valerie…" _Danny thought as he shut off the water and started to dry himself. What was with that kiss? It was just like his fake-out-make-out with Sam, only it wasn't a fake. He was actually pretty scared for Valerie when he saw that ghost go after her. He was so relieved she was all right, but then Valerie took over. So it started with concern but then it went...somewhere. He was still unsure of how that happened.

Danny didn't want to just blame Valerie though. He was just as guilty for not stopping when he should have. Tying the towel around his waist, he returned to his room.

There, seated on his bed with her knees pressed against her chest, was Sam. When she saw Danny come in, she smiled. She must not have gone anywhere after she angrily stormed out, or at least she started to leave, but turned around and came back.

"Uh, hi." Danny said, realizing more then ever his lack of appropriate attire.

"I just wanted to say something." Sam said.

"Let me go first. I shouldn't have been thinking with my pants. I should have…" Danny started, but was immediately interrupted by Sam quickly pecking him on the lips.

"That's all I wanted to say." Sam responded. "Don't worry, I'm a good girl. No peeking." She smiled and climbed out the window as to not startle Jazz.

"_And despite that, she's still more romantic then Valerie." _Danny found himself feeling like he could fly, and not as a ghost.


	4. Danny vs The Harbringer of Pain

The next day, Danny awoke feeling much refreshed. It wasn't until he attempted to bound down the stairs, causing his whole body to flare in pain, that he remembered the wounds he suffered yesterday.

Jazz was seated at the table, but the parents were nowhere in sight.

"Where's Mom and Dad?" Danny asked

"Probably downstairs." Jazz said. "Or somewhere testing a new invention. I haven't seen them. Ready for school?"

"Yeah." Danny responded. He wasn't about to tell Jazz about his late night meeting with Sam, she might get the wrong impression.

Sam was outside waiting of the school waiting as Jazz dropped Danny off at the door.

"You're earlier then usual." She noted. "Even Tucker isn't here yet." Danny went to his locker. "By the way, what happened to you yesterday."

"Some group of ghosts known as the Harbringers. There's at least two of them and they all wear these black robes." Danny informed.

"Never heard of them. Were they strong?"

"Yeah, and they work together." Danny reported.

"Well, you be careful. Don't rush into a fight." Sam stated the obvious, but Danny was glad to hear her say it anyway.

"I'll see if I can dig up anything about them." She offered. Danny thanked her, but he still worried. He had to deal with them sooner or later, and when he did, he'd like to have his internal organs intact. Separating them, and taking them out one at a time, was the most obvious course of action, but first Danny had to figure out how to hit them. He was able to attack once by distracting them, but the distraction was him getting beaten to a pulp.

Danny's suspicions about tests proved correct, and he inwardly groaned at his correctness.

"Cheer up, Danny, it's an English test. It won't be that hard. And it's _Hamlet._ Hamlet's the greatest piece of work Shakespeare ever made." Sam attempted to lighten the mood of Danny and Tucker, but it wasn't working.

"If by greatest you mean most boring, then yeah, it's way great." Danny noted sarcastically as they went to lunch.

"You've got to lighten up. If you take it like it's a chore, it'll be horrible, but if you approach it with interest…"

"Now, you sound like Jazz." Danny returned.

"Well, I guess we could all do it together." Tucker offered. "Maybe it'll be less of a chore that way."

As they entered the lunchroom, Danny turned to Tucker and asked what the menu would be today, but his ghost sense went off.

"Oh, shit, now during lunch." Danny complained.

"We've got you covered." Sam and Tucker started to hug, shielding Danny from the eyes of anyone. He quickly went ghost, and the three of them ducked off into the side to watch without being seen.

And not a moment too soon. For all of the windows of the cafeteria shattered. Only a ghost would do something like that.

"Danny, stay hidden until the ghost shows itself." Sam instructed. Danny nodded. And sure enough, Sam's prediction came true. One of the hooded figures came in through the window and floated above the crowd. For a second, the entire lunch room crowd sat there, staring. The destruction of the windows freaked them out, but ultimately, no one was hurt. But now this was amazingly strange. But they didn't have the time to gawk, for the ghost swept his arm in a large, graceful motion, and unleashed a rain of dark green plasma bolts onto the students. The lucky students were hit and simply collapsed. The unlucky ones had the bolts miss them, which caused the ghost to blast them with an ectoplasmic ray from his finger. Those unfortunate souls were knocked out too, but they usually slammed into the wall. Paulina was one of those unfortunates, and it took a lot of self-control from Danny, not to mention Sam's killer grip, to prevent him from exposing himself too soon.

"Where is this ghost boy?" The robed figure shouted.

"Here!" Danny Phantom sprung into action, flying at the fastest speed he could. The ghost has his back turned to Danny, and before he could turn around, Danny slammed into him with both fists extended, knocking the ghost straight into the wall.

"He is here." The robed ghost stated. He grabbed the hood of his robe and removed it, the entire robe fading from view. This robed figure looked quite different without his hood on. Now, he looked like an explorer of some kind, straight out of an Indiana Jones movie.

"I am the Harbringer of Pain." He said.

"Then I suppose you're no stranger to this!" Danny fired an ectoplasmic beam from his hands, but Pain simply blocked it with his hand, just like the other ones had done at the Nasty Burger. Pain sounded nothing like the two from the Nasty Burger, so there were still more.

"Where's your goon squad?" Danny taunted as he fired again.

"I don't need those other weaklings to destroy you. They move far too slow for my style." Pain returned by stretching out his hand, and firing separate ectoplasmic blasts in a repeated volley from his fingertips. Danny twisted and rolled to avoid them, but he still took several shots. Several repeated smaller blasts were much harder to dodge then one large one. Danny responded by going intangible and sneaking up behind him. But Pain anticipated this move and blocked the shot again.

"Dammit." Danny cursed.

"This is the ghost boy who has given so many great trouble? I thought this would be worth my time." Pain dashed forward and grabbed Danny by the neck of his jumpsuit.

"It's not worth the trouble to kill you." Pain stated.

"Let him go, you creep!" Sam shouted. She and Tucker grabbed the closest implements of silverware they could find and hurled them at the Harbringer, who simply turned intangible to avoid them.

"Two I missed?" Pain seemed upset that he didn't get everyone, but he attempted to remedy the problem by firing a powerful blast at Sam and Tucker. They dodged quickly, and Tucker winged a plate towards Pain, who fired at it to shoot it out of the air. The blast destroyed the plate, but was deflected.

"That's it!" Danny thought. He turned himself misty to escape from the grip of Pain, and dashed towards the limp figure of Paulina. He fished in her pocket for her compact, something she always carried with her. Opening it, he smiled at himself in the mirror.

"Uh…what?" Paulina stirred when someone touched her.

"Stay down." Danny told her calmly. "I need to borrow your compact to beat this guy." Paulina put on a seductive smile.

"Whatever I can do for you, Danny Phantom." She smiled. Danny smiled too, but when he heard the sound of Pain launching an ectoplasmic blast at them. Quickly, Danny grabbed Paulina's hands and willed himself intangible, saving the both of them from the blast. Once the blast subsided, Danny dashed towards Pain as Paulina lay back down, barely able to stay awake.

"Time for you to say goodnight." Danny threw the compact up and over Pain's head.

"You have lousy aim, ghost boy." Pain mocked, but Danny simply fired at the compact, trying to concentrate as much power as he could into his hands. The blast struck the compact and reflected straight into the Harbringer's back. Danny kept firing as long as he could, until the compact fell to the floor.

That attacked definitely seemed to cripple Pain, so Danny flew forward and fired again. Although Pain blocked the attack the same way he always had, it caused him to flinch, which Danny was waiting for, he charged and kicked as hard as he could, knocking Pain to the ground.

Danny punched Pain several times, furious that he would injure people like Paulina to get a shot at him. Once Danny was sure the Harbringer couldn't block it, he grabbed his Fenton Thermos and sucked the sinister villain inside.

"That was…awesome! I've never seen you fight like that." Tucker cheered. Danny was breathing heavily, with an angry expression on his face. He had never been so angry, not since Vlad planned to off his dad, or Spectra his sister. He de-transformed, and turned to Sam and Tucker, smiling. He looked a lot more relieved after beating one of these guys.

"Jazz was right, she told me once that you need to be tricky sometimes to win." Danny beamed with pride.

_"When would Jazz say something like that?"_ Sam wondered, but she kept it to herself. That fight was pretty intense, and she had been praying fervently for Danny's success. There was no need to occupy his mind with Jazz-related news.

"Hey, it looks like everyone's getting up." Tucker noted. Danny went over to Paulina, who, although she had regained consciousness, was still out of it. That ectoplasmic blast had hurt her a little, and blood trickled from her mouth. Danny moved to clean her up.

"Hey, where is Danny Phantom?" Paulina questioned.

"He had to go, fight some more of those weird ghosts. But he did get them. He told me to help you." He moved to help her up, but Paulina slapped his hand away.

"No way, Fenton. But you can tell Phantom thanks for me if I don't see him." Danny sighed as he went back to Sam and Tucker.

"Won't it look suspicious that we're the only ones okay?" Tucker asked. Danny knew he was right, so he grabbed the two of them and went intangible, flying outside.

"I didn't get lunch." He bemoaned.

"It'll be alright, we can hit the Nasty Burger after school." Sam offered.

"Harbringer ghosts nonwithstanding." Danny accepted.

* * *

Unbeknowst to Danny, Sam, or Tucker, there was a fourth person watching their fight. Jasmine Fenton smiled, she was late to lunch because she had to ask some questions of her teacher, and she arrived in time to watch Danny fight. So that was what he was fighting. It may have been a little rough there, but Danny managed to win it through. But Jazz suspected things might have gotten a little tougher as Danny fought. She figured she should be ready. That Pain ghost or whomever he was seemed to have broken off from his group and attacked Danny by himself, if the conversation bits she heard were correct. If those ghosts attacked him together, Danny might need some secret help.

Jasmine Fenton did not like the thought that she was doing the exact same things her parents would have done, but she immediately hated herself for that thought. This was something any sister would have done. It didn't matter if she was fighting ghosts or Vikings or hellgods, she would protect her little brother from anything.

Danny would need help soon, and when that time came, it would be her to give it.


	5. Road of Flames: The Fury of Jasmine

School couldn't have dragged on longer, Danny thought to himself as the bell rang to leave. Lancer wouldn't relent with the math questions, and today, of all days, he needed to add insult to his injuries ghost fighting by having Danny demonstrate the use of the quadratic formula. He bungled his way through it, somehow. Grumbling to himself, he made a mental reminder to pay Lancer some invisible payback later. School always seemed harder when Danny didn't eat, and now, meeting Sam at the Nasty Burger, would help immensely.

As Danny expected, Sam didn't eat, she just sipped water slowly while Danny nearly inhaled his food. He couldn't express the relief to himself, knowing his stomach was going to be on a rocky trip later, eating so much fried food.

"I was really worried about those Harbringers first, but maybe those two you ran into last time were just strong. You were able to beat that one at school easily." Sam cheered.

"That's because you weren't fighting it. It must look easier then it actually is." Danny sipped his soda.

"But you were still winning, and you weren't in serious condition."

"I think he was just egotistical and weak." Danny responded.

"Don't be so pessimistic, that's what I do." Sam joked. "You look much better smiling."

"Argh, now you sound like my mom." Danny groaned.

"Well, you've finally eaten today. Feel better?"

"Yeah. If I knew I was attacked at lunch, I wouldn't have skipped breakfast."

"I think I'll come home with you. We should really prepare together for that English test."

"I could ask Jazz." Danny stated.

"Jazz would tell you that you need to do it yourself." Sam reminded, and Danny shrugged. She probably would, she was almost insistent that Danny do his work by himself. It was the only way to do it right, she had always told him.

After a quick motor-scooter ride home, Danny and Sam hit the books. _Hamlet _was boring and impossible to read, but as the two of them muddled through and translated it into something they could understand, Danny found himself interested in it, if only slightly. As he tried to make sense of a long speech by Hamlet stating that "Frailty, thy name is woman," Danny's ghost sense, like a smoky omen, drifted from his mouth.

"Another." Sam, catching the ghost sense, groaned.

"Just wait right here, I'll be right back." Danny went ghost and turned himself intangible. The upstairs was quiet; Jazz was writing an essay quietly in her room, so Danny figured the ghost was in the basement. And his instinct wasn't wrong. There was a hooded figure fiddling with the controls to the Fenton Ghost Portal, but since the Genetic Lock was still in place, there was little it could do more then fiddle.

"Hey, haven't you ever heard of knocking on the door before entering someone's house?" Danny asked, while simultaneously blasting with an ectoblast. The blast caught the thing in the head, causing it's hood to fall down.

"I am the Harbringer of Judgment." The new one spoke. Again, he sounded nothing like the first two from the Nasty Burger. As the black robe dissipated from around the figure, Danny could see that this one was dressed as a priest, which he thought was strange. But, strange or not, Danny would have to send the priest to his maker.

"Foolish child. I am not like that fool you fought earlier." Judgment retaliated with his own volley of blasts, but Pain had shot his a lot faster; Danny found them easy to dodge. Only the last one he fired came close to hitting, and, although it only grazed his shoulder, it still hurt like a mother. What they lacked in speed, they made up for in punch.

"So I'll just beat him fast." Danny reasoned to himself. He fired another blast, but Judgment simply clutched his hands to the cross he wore around his neck, and a green shield of ectoplasmic energy surrounded him. Danny's blast was harmlessly absorbed.

"Fool. You cannot hope to penetrate the shield of my power?"

"Heh, don't you mean God's power?" Danny taunted. "You're not much of a priest, are you?"

"This has nothing to do with God, boy!" Judgment was actually quite angered by Danny's taunting, and responded with another string of blasts. Danny had hoped they would have been blocked by his own shield, but they passed through it as if it wasn't there. Danny dodged again, but the last one had reflected off of one of the lights and nailed Danny in the arm. He screamed in pain.

"I've gotta be more careful." Danny thought, but careful or not, he had to be more careful. That last blast had really hurt his arm, making it hard to move it to shoot an ectoblast or punch.

"_Maybe…_" Danny thought, turning intangible and dashing forward, extending his uninjured right arm forward. He turned tangible at the last second, hoping that Judgment's shield, although it blocked ectoblasts, would not block a straight right hook. But fortune would not favor the ghost boy, as he bounced off the shield and flew straight backward, allowing Judgment time to fire a powerful blast at Danny, who could not avoid it this time. It caught him right in the chest, and it felt like a sucker punch from Dash, if Dash punched with the strength of three men. Slamming into the wall, Danny was gasping for breath, the vicious attack barely allowing him to stand. But Danny, attempting to move his crippled left arm as best he could, clasped his hands together to unleash the most powerful blast he could. It connected squarely with Judgment's shield, who only laughed as the futile blast fell harmlessly into the shield. But the shield quivered, as if it was still water being hit with a rock.

"_I must be overloading it_." Danny thought to himself. "_I'll just keep it up. C'mon, just a little longer." _He willed his body, which trembled and ached more then ever, to keep up.

* * *

"What is going on downstairs?" Sam heard Jazz from upstairs shout, as she made her way downstairs. She panicked. She didn't go to the basement because Danny didn't want her to be at risk, but she definitely heard the fight. Although she couldn't tell who was on the losing end, it definitely seemed like _someone _wasn't going to last much longer. Sam had faith in Danny, but she was still worried. Danny would want her to stall Jazz and prevent her from being in the crossfire. Jazz came into the kitchen.

"I guess it's just an invention of your dad's going haywire, I wouldn't worry about it."

"Where's Danny?" Jazz asked.

"Bathroom." Sam lied coolly.

"That can't be an invention, Mom and Dad just called and said they wouldn't be home until later tonight."

"Uhh…well…"

"Sam." Jazz insisted. "What do you know about what's going on downstairs?"

"Nothing." She insisted, which was only a half-truth. She knew there was a ghost fight with Danny, but that was it.

"I'm going downstairs." Jazz stated, turning towards the basement door. Sam immediately grabbed Jazz's wrist.

"Don't you hear that, it could be dangerous!" Sam stated.

"So what?" Jazz retorted. "This is my house and I won't let anyone or any weird invention put either you or Danny at risk." For an instant, Sam wondered if she could keep Jazz from going inside, but realized she knew she could not. Jazz was much stronger then Danny, and Danny was much stronger then Sam. Jazz could do practically anything, and could pierce Danny's trainwreck of emotions during Spectra's stint as counselor when Sam herself could not.

"I'll go with you." Sam offered. If things were really bad, Sam could hide Danny and make sure Jazz didn't see Danny's transformation. Just as Sam counted on Danny to fight, Danny counted on Sam to keep clandestine his identity. And Sam would not fail him.

* * *

Judgment's shield was shaking more then ever, and the ghost himself was concentrating on maintaining his shield. Which was good, Danny wasn't sure how many more attacks he could take from him. The shield quivered, it almost looked like it was ready to pop like a giant bubble.

"Just a…little…" Danny kept up his attack, he could feel nothing else other then his hands, and the blast. Once that shield was gone, then he couldn't block any of his attacks; otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered doing it in the first place.

"Just…a…" Danny's mind was swimming, barely able to form coherent thoughts. He wasn't sure how much more he could do.

* * *

Jazz had taken the stairs three at a time, and Sam had to hustle to keep up with her. Once they reached the bottom, Sam saw the sight she was dreading. Danny was splayed against the wall, blasting with all his might, but his entire body was trembling, as if it was a strain to even stay conscious, let alone fight. Danny's green eyes were barely open, and covered in tears. That ghost, who had the appearance of a Catholic priest, was trying to prevent Danny from attacking him with a shield, although the shield seemed to quiver much like Danny did.

Sam glanced briefly at Jazz. The older Fenton's eyes darkened with rage, and her mouth changed quickly from gaping in surprise to a knifelike slash of bitterness and anger. Sam had never seen Jazz like this.

And in that instant, Sam thought she heard a snap. The shield around the ghost burst like a punctured beach ball, but the blasts stopped from Danny's hand. Sam watched in horror as Danny's body went limp and slumped against the wall. The two glowing rings formed around his body, and turned him back into his teenage self.

She had failed. There was absolutely no way Jazz could have missed that.

"Sam." Jazz stated, but the voice sounded nothing like her. It sounded malicious and dark, two emotions that would have never characterized Jasmine Fenton. "Get out of the way." Not daring to disobey, Sam dashed toward Danny's limp form. She could tell from here that he was in horrible condition, up close, he was bound to look horrible. Whatever Jazz was going to do, she had to do it quick. Those Harbringers meant business, and Danny was severely weakened. They could have finished him.

Sam wouldn't let that happen, but what could she do?

"_Whatever it took." _Sam thought. Even if it cost her everything, she would not let Danny die.

* * *

As Sam Mason dashed away, Jazz realized that this was the only shot she'd have to protect them. Whoever this ghostpriest was, he clearly had hurt Danny, hurt him critically. And that meant he was the mortal enemy of Jasmine Fenton.

In one swift motion, Jazz grabbed the first thing she could lay her hands on. It was a firearm-type weapon, clearly an invention of Maddie's since their father's face was not on the grip. It looked like a pistol, and the name clearly said "Ecto-Pistol" on the barrel, but Jazz didn't care much about names now. Twisting it like a trained like an expert marksman, Jazz fired. Blue beams of energy, not unlike the beams Danny shot from his hands, fired from the weapon.

The priest dodged and retaliated, but Jazz moved too, dodging to her right and tucking into a roll. Firing again, she managed to blast the ghost in its hand. It staggered, and Jazz looked around for another weapon, and found it in another one of her mother's inventions. It appeared to be a normal ladies right-handed glove. She tossed the ecto-pistol into the sky, quickly slipped on the glove. Once it was on her hand, three glowing, blue claws stretched out from the knuckles and extended to the length of Jazz's fingertips. Catching the pistol in her left hand and clenching her right into a fist so the claws were extended further then her fingers, she moved forward as fast as she could. As quickly as she could, she punched the ghost straight in the stomach while firing at point blank range with the ecto-pistol into the ghost's face.

* * *

As Sam tended to Danny, she couldn't help but watch Jazz's brutal slaughter of the ghost. It was amazing. She'd seen Danny fight, and she'd seen his vicious side. Whenever she and Tucker, or any of Danny's family, were in danger, Danny tapped into a bitter, vicious side that offered him tremendous power and endurance.

And this was Jazz's strength. Sam couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. As she used a claw like weapon to viciously punch and slash, and fire with the pistol, Sam found herself overcome at the grace and beauty of the older Fenton. It was just like Danny, only Jazz.

"_Stop thinking like that!" _Sam's mind scolded. _"You need to take care of Danny, let Jazz handle that ghost." _That ghost wouldn't have enough time to say its final prayers anyway. Blasted to oblivion and ripped to shreds by the fury of a sister.


	6. Coming Clean: Rest Before the Storm

Sam was caught at a crossroads. Unless Jazz was completely clueless, which she wasn't, she would know about Danny. So what would Sam say to her, or, more importantly, what would she say to Danny.

Not that the unconscious and limp boy would have listened to her anyway.

"Sam, we should move Danny upstairs." Jazz, calm as ever, ordered. "I'll carry him; just open all of the doors." Jazz, having returned the weapons, bent down near Danny and scooped him up nearly effortlessly. Sam blinked for a second, still stunned over the mountain of things she needed to do once Danny was fine, but she snapped out of it and cleared the way for Jazz.

Once Danny was in his room, Jazz decided that she would take care of him for now, but ordered Sam not to leave the house; she had things to discuss with her.

She wasn't able to leave, but that didn't mean she couldn't call Tucker and explain.

"Hey Sam." Tucker's cheerful voice belied the severity of situations at Sam's end. "Tucker, come over to Danny's quickly." She told him. "We've got problems." She immediately hung up afterwards. Tucker would know better then to call back; he'd come over as quickly as possible. And she needed him now; she needed a front to help deal with Jazz. What if she wanted to tell their parents?

Of course, things could have been fine. Perhaps Jazz wouldn't be aware of ghost powers, and maybe just think it was some invention of her parents. It was as good as any a way to protect Danny's identity. She smiled at her own active imagination. Jazz didn't know all the things her parents made; she made it a point not to. And Jazz thought logically; ghosts made no sense. Sam could use that against her. But with Tucker with her, they could catch each other if they started to stumble.

She would not fail Danny. Not now, not ever.

* * *

"_That must have been a very tough ghost." _Jazz thought. She had taken a few grazes from the blasts the ghost priest fought, and they ached like anything. And Danny had taken more, when that ghost was at full strength. But she cherished those aches and pains as if they were the greatest gift she could have, for they sort of were. Now she knew what is was that Danny went through, if only slightly.

She removed her hairband and tied it around Danny's shoulder, which appeared to be the most serious of his injuries. His passing out was more exhaustion then anything else. She cleaned up what he could, but Danny needed rest more then anything else. She left his room, shutting the door softly so as not to disturb him, and went towards Sam, who was seated on the stairs, and now joined by Danny's other friend, Tucker. She must have called him and reported the bad news.

"How is he?" Tucker asked. Sam seemed really lost in thought, so he spoke for the both of them.

"Not as bad as I thought." Jazz responded. "Exhausted, but his condition is not serious. However, I think there are some things you need to tell me."

"You've got me, Jazz. Must've been one of your father's weird inventions." Sam started.

"You're going to have to try a little harder then that." Jazz crossed her arms across her chest and scowled. Tucker was about to open his mouth and compound Sam's discussion, but Jazz gave him a glare that immediately shut him up.

"Tell me the truth." Jazz insisted. "Danny is a ghost, isn't he?"

"Wh…what are you talking about? Stop acting like your dad." Sam tried.

"My dad is too clueless to notice anything, and I'm not acting like that." Jazz countered. She had prepared this conversation with Danny ever since she had seen him transform, and things were going like clockwork.

"Jazz…I…" Sam's shoulders slumped. "Can we talk to Danny first before I explain. Because…"

"We think he should tell you." Tucker returned. That was something Jazz was not expecting him to say.

"Alright." The older Fenton shut her eyes and leaned against the wall near Danny's door. "But don't try anything tricky."

Sam knew for the longest time that Tucker said a lot of stupid things, but when he came through and said something right, he really did it right.

Sam opened the door to Danny's room quietly, looking at the figure in the bed. Danny's eyes were twitching as if they wanted to open, but they hurt too much to do so. His mouth groaned, and he softly called out a string of names.

"Jazz…Sam…I'll…pro…" He was still living his nightmare, losing against the ghost and leaving Sam and Jazz to its mercy.

"Danny." Sam took his hands in hers, his hands that were cold as a wet fish, and quivered with his nightmarish fears. She squeezed them, as if she was afraid Danny would fall without them.

"We're here." Tucker returned. "It's alright now." Sam knew Tucker didn't know what had happened, but he really didn't need too right now. Hearing their voices worked, Danny's hands stopped quaking, and he managed to slightly open his pale blue eyes. Although tear-strained and barely opened, it didn't look like he was hurting much when he did that.

"How's Jazz?" Danny asked.

"Fine. She finished off the ghost."

"Really." Danny did not need to ask that as a question, he knew she was more then capable.

"But there is something else." Tucker said. Sam would have slapped him; the last thing he needed right now was another problem. But he was also right; Danny needed to know.

"What?" He tried to sit up, but he only grunted under the strain. Tucker put his hands on Danny's shoulders and had him lay back down.

"Jazz…she saw you transform." Tucker told him. There wasn't much color in Danny's face, but the rest of it drained out until he was as pale as his ghost self's hair.

"How?" He asked.

"You passed out fighting that ghost. Jazz took charge and finished it, but she saw you." Sam clarified.

"What did you tell her?"

"Nothing. We thought you should." Sam informed.

"Yes…yes, I can't keep it hidden forever. Send her in, and leave the room." Danny instructed.

"Okay, we'll do that, but don't strain yourself. You should be sleeping." Danny ignored that comment; Sam knew this wasn't something he could sleep off and do in the morning.

"Okay, Danny's feeling well enough to talk." Sam reported to Jazz.

"We'll go downstairs until you guys are done." Tucker added on before disappearing down the steps.

* * *

Jazz wasn't afraid of ghosts, or spiders. She'd stare death in the face for her brother. But she was nervous about going into this room.

Danny was awake, and straining himself to sit up.

"Danny, you shouldn't be up in this condition." His sister informed him. He ignored her and sat straight up.

"I think I have something to tell you."

"You don't have to explain that much, I already know a little." She spoke much softer then she usually did.

"You do?"

"Yeah." Jazz sat down on Danny's bed. "I've known it for several months."

"You have?"

"Yeah, I saw you do it at the ice cream store." Jazz responded. Danny was silent for a moment, although it felt like an eternity. His eyes opened all the way, and he looked at her warily.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

"I wanted you to tell me." Jazz returned.

"I…I was scared to tell you." Danny admitted.

"Why couldn't you tell me?" Jazz asked, but she instantly regretted saying that. That was Danny's reason, and no one else's.

"Because…because I wanted at least someone to think I was normal. No one at school does. Even Sam and Tucker think I'm different, even though they are okay with that difference. It was only you, Mom, and Dad that saw me as normal, but I guess you didn't since then."

"Danny…" Jazz slid her arms around him. "I'm always here for you. None of us think you a freak. No matter what, we're always on your side."

Danny smiled.

"I guess the fact that you knew about the powers explains a lot." Danny noted.

"You rest. I'll handle Lancer so you don't have to go to school tomorrow." Jazz instructed.

"Uh…will you…"

"I won't tell anyone about your secret. I never will." Jazz reassured. "If you ever run into trouble, you let me now, okay."

"I don't want you to get hurt." Danny returned.

"I don't want you to, either." Jazz retorted. "But we all get hurt. I was hurt today, and I was hurting everyday you didn't tell me of your powers. I'd take a bullet for you, Danny, Sam and Tucker would too. I know you have to fight to protect us, but remember that you're one person, and you have people ready to help you in no time."

Danny smiled again. He knew that, unless things were extremely desperate, he'd never ask Jazz to help him in a dangerous fight. But things had been desperate, and Jazz handled herself well.

"I've got my essays to finish. Danny, you stay rested. I'll have Tucker activate the Ghost Shield around the house so you're not attacked."

"Thanks." Danny lay back down, and fell asleep almost instantly. Jazz snuck out of the room and only looked to Sam and Tucker with a smile. She gave them instructions, and informed them that neither she nor Danny would be in school tomorrow. Their parents wouldn't be home until late the next night, and Danny needed someone here.

Sam and Tucker only smiled, pleased that she was handling herself well. They didn't have to know she had known Danny's secret for months. They'd find out sooner or later. They just needed to be normal kids and go to school and know what happened so they could give Danny the information. He still needed to study, but Jazz supposed his ghost life would get easier now that he had another ally.

Another ally, but Danny's fight would never end.


End file.
